Modern wireless transceivers are becoming smaller and smaller while their features and uses are continuously increasing. An application of these miniature transceivers is a wireless enabled hearing aid. Wireless capabilities are becoming a desired feature of the hearing aids. The wireless capability may be used for a variety of functions such as device programming, user control, ear-to-ear communications and device synchronization. Body worn medical patch devices are another application of these miniature transceivers. These patch devices are becoming very useful for the treatment, and monitoring of disease. It is desired to provide a wireless capability in these medical devices for control and monitoring of the devices' function.
The physical size of a wireless antenna is generally an important factor of its performance. Physically small antennas generally have high losses and require more powerful transmitters and complex high sensitivity receivers for satisfactory performance. High power transmitters will be a problem due to the limited power available from the small batteries used in hearing aids and medical patch devices. The high sensitivity receivers often require more power and typically have a number of external components which will be difficult to fit within the small volume of the hearing aid or a medical patch device. As a result of the small physical size of the hearing aid and medical patch device the problem of devising an effective antenna for wireless communications is not adequately resolved by the prior art.